Many industrial applications require neutralizing of static electrical charges that accumulate on surfaces of work pieces. Semi-conductor fabrication practices commonly introduce static charge neutralizing devices in and about work stations to reduce risk of accumulated static charge causing catastrophic discharge or arcing through and between microscopic layers of integrated circuit components.
In processes for fabricating continuous webs of dielectric materials such as paper or plastic, webs of such materials commonly move at high velocities over rollers and past work stations, and accumulate static surface changes that attract contaminating particulates and inhibit surface-coating processes and packaging into tightly-round rolls.
Static charges on surfaces of such work pieces can be neutralized by supplying ionized air molecules of requisite polarities in appropriate volumes to discharge or neutralize the static surface charges. Remaining surface charge and the polarity thereof may be monitored in conventional manner to feed back control data suitable for altering polarity and quantity of ionized air molecules supplied to the charged work piece to effect substantially complete neutralization of static charge on the work piece. Since both positive and negative air ions may be required to be supplied to a work piece to effect complete neutralization of static charges, if generation of one polarity of air ions fails or is otherwise inhibited, then surface charging rather than charge neutralization may occur, causing unintended catastrophic consequences in the course of attempting to neutralize surface static charge.